Hey Steelers Fans. Welcome to Monday.
The Kickoff
One of the most important aspects of the BYE week for NFL coaches is what we call “self-scouting.” During that first week, Mike Tomlin and his staff spent time reviewing everything the Steelers have been doing over the course of the first four weeks. While every facet of the team gets reviewed one would have to think that the offensive line and secondary received more than the usual allotment of attention. Despite an improved performance in the week four win in Dublin, the offensive line is still a massive work in progress. In terms of the secondary, I would point directly to the 81-yard pass from Carson Wentz to Jordan Addison late in the game last week. Part of that failure was due to injuries and part of it – as Teryl Austin admitted – was getting too cute with backups. With no Jalen Ramsey for the Browns’ game, Tomlin and Austin need to get the area squared away.
Around the North
Cleveland played valiantly in London and was largely carried by rookies before losing to Minnesota 21-17. Quinshon Judkins is going to be a problem for the Steelers’ defense as he excelled running and receiving. Dillon Gabriel was solid in his first career start throwing for 190 yards and two scores. I expect another close game next Sunday at Acrisure… Baltimore is reeling. The injuries proved too much to overcome in losing at home to Houston 44-10. Cooper Rush threw three interceptions in relief of Lamar Jackson. Even with the issues, I’m not sure how good that defense is. They are getting torched every week… And then there’s the Bengals. They fell behind 28-3 against the Lions before getting it to 28-17 but that was as close as they’d come in losing. Jake Browning threw three interceptions before he added a couple of TDs late. This division is a mess and anyone thinking the Steelers will just cake walk to the division crown is not paying attention.
One More Note on the Ravens
A lot of Steelers’ fans were celebrating the demise of the Ravens yesterday and no one loves seeing them lose more than I do. The warning I’m issuing is because I’ve seen this situation before. Yes, the Ravens are 1-4 but they will get healthy again and we better hope that they are so far out of contention by that time that it won’t matter. Otherwise, they are going to be a problem in the AFC North despite these early struggles.
Running Back Rotation
Assuming Jaylen Warren is back Sunday, I’m curious to see how the division of labor works out. As we said when we signed him, we viewed Kenneth Gainwell as a ‘Mewelde Moore’ type guy and he lived up to that perfectly in Ireland. Moore was a vital piece in the run to the 6th Super bowl title. Gainwell possesses many of those same skills and should be a really nice compliment to Warren unless Warren continues to struggle with injuries.
Something to Keep an Eye On
This Sunday marks Week Six in the season which means we are about three weeks away from the trade deadline which falls on November fourth. Based on the make up of the current division, I see no reason why the Steelers wouldn’t be interested in adding some pieces. Even with their brutal, late season schedule, I still see them being in contention for the North. At the same time, there are going to be teams that will be selling. We don’t yet know who those teams are yet but things will start coming into focus as the next couple of weeks go by.
Random Reads
How… How in the wide world of sports does a player drop a ball before crossing the goal line? It happened again in Arizona yesterday and it’s one of the most unforgivable things a player can do in my opinion… James Franklin has a buyout of $56 million right now. I’m willing to bet if you put out a collection plate at the next home game, you would reach that goal in not-so Happy Valley… Mike McDaniel and Brian Daboll appear to be in a race of who will get fired first… If we learned anything from Sunday it’s that there isn’t a truly dominant team. Both Buffalo and Philly lost at home. It’s just week six and already we have no unbeaten teams left… I think the Steelers are in a tough spot when it comes to ‘Renegade.’ I don’t believe the effect is what it used to be but at the same time it’s part of the stadium experience that many fans enjoy.
Hot Reads is presented by
